With the musical being in a different time of year than it normally is, theater students, led by theater director Jordan Foote, are preparing for the first time they’ll be judged by their musical performance.

Being fairly new to the school, Foote decided to try something out of the ordinary for his actors and actresses by changing the schedule his students are used to with the fall musical production of “The Little Mermaid.”

“Typically, we do our musical in the spring,” Foote said. “[But] we decided to move the musical into the fall this year, because Blue Star musicals are adjudicated [judged] in the fall.”

Foote realized a few of his students longed to participate in Blue Star, even though their work will be cut out for them, fighting for glancing eyes on their college applications.

“It’s nice to have on students’ resumes, [and] there’s scholarship opportunities,” Foote said.

Senior Haley Flood plays Ariel in the production and said she sees the opportunities Blue Star has to offer.

“I think it’s really going to motivate us to work really hard,” Flood said. “It’s one thing to just put on a fun show, but when people are looking at the small little details, it makes us all work together to make sure it’s really tight.”

But for every pro comes a con. Even though motivation is an important drive for these theater students, getting too caught up in the competition can affect that motivation.

“I want my students to do good work just to do the good work,” Foote said. “Not for recognition and awards.”

With this in mind, Foote teaches his students what this opportunity could bring, and the effort needed to achieve it. However, Flood said she is a little nervous to try something new.

“We’ve never done it before, so that already makes me a little uneasy,” Flood said. “Just because I don’t think a lot of people know how big a deal it is.”

A younger cast member in the musical, sophomore Libby Davis, recently just learned about Blue Star, but quickly picked up on its potential – both good and bad.

“It might cause jealousy,” Davis said. “It is hard to get yourself out there in theater and see someone win who always wins.”

But the opportunity Blue Star has to offer strikes Davis as a chance to bring the theater program closer together as whole, taking advantage of the long rehearsals Blue Star brings.

Foote, agreeing with Davis, said it’s all about balance.

“We’re doing [Blue Star],” Foote said. “But I’m trying not to make a big deal out of it.”

Foote knows how much to push his students, and how much to pull back to ensure they perform their best.

“I want my students just focused on doing good work,” Foote said. “Then seeing what happens in terms of nominations and those kinds of things.”